NJ requires flu shots for preschoolers (socialized medicine - no shot - no preschool)

San Luis Obispo ^ | 12/14/07 | LINDA A. JOHNSON

[Libloather]

NJ requires flu shots for preschoolers
By LINDA A. JOHNSON
Associated Press Writer

TRENTON, N.J. --New Jersey on Friday became the first state to require flu shots for preschoolers, saying their developing immune systems and likelihood of spreading germs make them as vulnerable to complications as the elderly.

State Health Commissioner Dr. Fred M. Jacobs approved the requirement and three other vaccines for school children starting Sept. 1, 2008, over the objections of some parent groups.

The new requirements "will have a direct impact on reducing illnesses, hospitalizations and deaths in one of New Jersey's most vulnerable populations - our children," Jacobs said in a statement.

A health advisory board Monday backed the new requirements on a 5-2 vote with one abstention after parents said they worried about the safety of giving young children dozens of vaccine doses. Some also say they don't want government making their medical decisions.

Starting in September, all children attending preschool or licensed day care centers will have to get an annual flu shot, Jacobs said. That makes New Jersey the first state to require flu shots for preschoolers or older students, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics.

New Jersey also will require preschoolers to get a pneumococcal vaccine and sixth-graders to get vaccines against meningitis, which New Jersey already requires for college dormitory residents, and a booster shot against whooping cough, which in recent years has seen a resurgence blamed on waning potency of shots given to infants and preschoolers.

The four additional vaccines are recommended by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the American Academy of Pediatrics and other medical groups.

Some parents support proposed legislation that would give families a right to skip required immunizations by lodging a "philosophical objection," as some other states allow. The bill has been sitting in a committee without action for several years.

New Jersey does grant an automatic exemption on religious grounds and allows exemptions for medical reasons.

The new vaccines will be available for free for low-income families, and private insurers generally will cover the cost.

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NJ health department site: http://www.state.nj.us/health

New Jersey Alliance for Informed Choice in Vaccination: http://www.NJAICV.org

[metmom]

ANOTHER REASON TO HOMESCHOOL

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[pandoraou812]

I’ve gotten the pneumonia shot but I thought that lasted for 3 yrs. I just recently got a new doctor so I will have to see if I need that. I would rather get the shots then take a chance....I refuse to send Sassy to school when she is sick & I wish more parents were able to keep their sick children home. So many work that the kids are sent to school sick. We have the hand washing down pat now & that helps. Plus we use paper towels in the bathroom. With a family of 8 now we don’t need any sickness coming into the house.

[metmom]

Public Education Ping

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[metmom]

mom and nanny ping

[metmom]

Fine, then if I don’t send my kid to the public school, can I have my money back?

It is a big deal that the government is trying to control every aspect of our lives and make our medical decisions for us. It’s not the government’s responsibility or right to impose their requirements on us. They’re not medical professionals and I don’t want a bunch of politicians who can’t even efficiently run the DMV or post office to make my personal health care decisions.

[Tolerance Sucks Rocks]

And you parents who object, just shut the hell up and take your soma!

[brytlea]

I stopped getting flu shots when I realized that sometimes I got the flu even when I got the shot, and most of the time I didn’t, even if I didn’t get the shot. I have a teacher’s immune system, which seems to keep me pretty healthy (after that first horrible year when you catch everything).

susie

[N3WBI3]

“New Jersey on Friday became the first state to require flu shots for preschoolers, saying their developing immune systems and likelihood of spreading germs make them as vulnerable to complications as the elderly.”

Hmmm so is NJ forcing the elderly to get flu shots to use state services?

[brytlea]

Yup. They give ‘em Tylenol to bring their fevers down and send them right along.
susie

[N3WBI3]

Polio and small pox are somewhat more troublesome than the flu wouldn't you agree?

"If you don't want to give your kids these vaccinations, send you kids to private schools"

Umm this law also requires private but licensed daycares!

[Born Conservative]

The drug companies. Do you have to ask?

That explains why there are so many companies lining up to make the vaccines /end sarcasm

[Sudetenland]

No and you know it. This society long ago made a decision that paying for public schooling was beneficial to our society. The idea being that an educated society is more likely to remain a free society. Whether you agree with it or not, it is the law. That is the price we pay for living in a representative democracy (republic). If you don't like what your government is doing, then work to change it.

If you believe that you have a beef, try being someone who pays property taxes to support a school system when you have no children. I accept it because I have no choice. Unfortunately, or fortunately, that is the price one pays for living in a Republic.

You can change things locally and nationally if you are willing to work harder than those with whose views you disagree. You can stand for office, you can run for school board, you can organize a grass roots campaign to change things, or...you can accept that we live in an imperfect world, under an imperfect system of government.

Do not portray yourself as a helpless victim. If you do not like the way the government is working, do something about it. Change it or acquiesce. The choice is yours.

We all seem to be great at complaining about the way our government is operating, but very few of us are willing to actually stand up and do something about it.

As for the right of the government to impose health requirements on you, I completely disagree. It is not only your children they are concerned about, it is all of the children with whose well being they are charged with protecting. Schools become in loco parentis while your child is in their care.

One simple solution is to press for school vouchers. If parents are concerned enough about the way in which their children's schools are being run and wish to opt out, then they need to out muscle the NEA and the other teacher's unions. It can be done, but it takes a level of sacrifice most people are unwilling to undertake. Till then, if you wish to send your children to private school you pay twice, or you can home school.

[Born Conservative]

I have a mixed opinion on this one. There are vaccines that are helpful and worthwhile, but I don’t think the state should start mandating every vaccine that comes along. Tetanus Vaccine? Yes. Polio Vaccine? Yes. But the flu vaccine? No. The flu vaccine covers the strains guesstimated to be prevalent for that season, but mass immunization is no guarantee of stopping it, and it’s not likely that it will eradicate the disease. (Tetanus is not likely to be eradicated, but the vaccine is highly effective, and the disease is devasting).

[Sudetenland]

Life sucks! You don't like it, do something about it...but good luck, I lived as a kid in New Jersey and it has only gotten more leftist since I left.

Of course this isn't the Soviet Union, you can always move to another, more Conservative, state. You'd probably have to change jobs, but then freedom isn't free, it sometimes requires sacrifices...and Yes I know easy to say, not so easy to do...only saying it is possible, we have that freedom.

[Born Conservative]

I’ve gotten the pneumonia shot but I thought that lasted for 3 yrs.

If you mean Pneumovax, that's given to high risk people once before the age of 65, and once after 65 (which is considered high risk), IIRC. I'm not familiar with any other pneumonia vaccine that is repeated after 3 years....

[pandoraou812]

That has to be the shot I got since I am a high risk as I have hep C from a blood transfusion when I was a teen. I was told in 82 I had non A non B hep. I try to keep myself as healthy as I can as my immune system isn’t what it used to be.

[LilAngel]

Schools are not paid for by the state.

Private day care centers are not owned by the state.

I do not believe that most private schools require flu vaccinations for preschoolers. Do you have a source for that?

[tacticalogic]

A flu shot won’t completely protect everyone because influenza mutates so quickly, lierally, from person to person as the virus moves through a population. However the more individuals vaccinated the less chance of an epidemic because less victims means a slower mutation rate. So even the unvaccinated are, to some degree, protected within a group where the majority are vaccinated.

The higher the population density, the greater the risk. The circumstances of living in a big city seem to unavoidably foster socialist policies.

[metmom]

The literacy rates were higher in this country before the advent of the public school system because people at one time thought it important to be able to read the Bible and that was motivation enough for them to learn. One room school houses worked and worked well.

There is no justification for so much governmental involvement in education, health, or any other aspect of our lives. It isn’t necessary. People who are motivated will learn and those who aren’t won’t no matter how much you try to force them.

By your line of reasoning, the government can justify any amount of control over our lives for the *common good*.

No thanks. I read Brave New World and 1984 and don’t wish to live it.

[Lancey Howard]

New Jersey does grant an automatic exemption on religious grounds

I wonder how the Nazi State Health Commissioner will handle this? Whatever.... New Jersey deserves exactly the government it elects.

By the way, I bet there will be quite a nice underground market for flu certs.